Following Cllr Mark Hunter’s decision to step aside as Leader of Stockport Council at the Annual Meeting on 20th May, the Liberal Democrat Group have elected a new leadership team who will become the Group’s nominees to be Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council from that meeting.
Cllr Mark Roberts, currently Deputy Leader of the Council and of the Lib Dem Group, has been elected as Group Leader.
He lives in Romiley with his wife Cllr Frankie Singleton, who he met while they were both on the campaign trail, and they married at Stockport Town Hall in 2023. He grew up in the Peak District and like many others chose to make Stockport his home. He has recently taken up beekeeping and loves working outside in the local countryside.
First elected in 2019 after seeing the inspirational work of his then councillors Lisa Smart and Angie Clark, Mark rose quickly through the ranks of the Group, taking on more responsibility and positions of leadership. He has been instrumental in pushing the council to be more sustainable, building in climate resilience, and has been leading on the work to deliver a Local Plan in the aftermath of the Labour government’s recent doubling of Stockport’s house building requirements.
Cllr Jilly Julian, currently Cabinet Member with responsibilities including finance and governance, has led on delivering a balanced budget and on the council’s overarching priority of tackling inequalities.
First elected as a councillor in 2021, Jilly lives with her husband, Chris, and their two children in Cheadle.
Not born here but “drawn” here, she saw the light and moved to the borough from Yorkshire almost 20 years ago. Outside of politics, Jilly is a self-employed coach and facilitator, and is a trustee of the local charity, Signpost Stockport for Carers. She loves weight training, heavy metal music, and crochet, when there’s a calm moment.
Speaking after his election as Group Leader, Cllr Roberts said: “It an honour and a privilege to serve my community and I am humbled to be able to build on that. I have been chosen to lead an inspirational bunch of local champions as leader of the Liberal Democrats across Stockport and will make our case to continue the administration of the council moving forward, building on the legacy of Cllr Hunter.
“Stockport is a great place to live, work and play but we have to do more to ensure that positive impact is felt across Stockport in all our communities. I am clear that comes from getting more Liberal Democrats who stand up for their residents elected and showing that when you vote Lib Dem you get local action.
“I couldn’t be happier that in my Deputy Leader I will be supported by my inspirational friend and colleague, Cllr Jilly Julian, who has guided the borough through the catastrophic lack of government funding. She has demonstrated herself to be a rational, safe pair of hands in a political landscape with considerable challenge.”
Having been elected as Group Deputy Leader, Cllr Julian added: “I became politically active a decade ago, because I felt that humanity and common sense had vanished from government. Now, ten years later, we need compassion and reason more than ever at every level of politics. So I’m incredibly proud to have been chosen for this role by the group. I know that Cllr Roberts will be a fantastic Group Leader, and am really happy to be supporting him and working together towards a thriving, fair, and ambitious future for Stockport!
“From housing to healthcare and beyond, we face huge challenges. But ‘do summat’ has become our family motto, and as Deputy Leader, I’m excited and proud to be able to make a difference.”
